Ch.64Chapter 64. An Unexpected Event (1)

“You really don’t know?”

“Yes! Truly, sincerely, I don’t know!”

“Same here!”

I can feel the desperation in the voices of the two people kneeling before me.

Their voices were filled with sincerity.

No matter how I look at it, they aren’t acting.

“Sigh, what am I supposed to do if you don’t know? Are there any small organizations that have been acting suspiciously lately?”

“There aren’t any!!”

“And attacking the Academy? No one would be crazy enough to do something like that!”

Toby from the Black Crows and Berolie from the Ten Arms—the two organizations that control the underworld of Crescen, the capital.

Just like last time, the two who came today again failed to provide me with satisfactory information.

‘It doesn’t make sense that there’s no movement from the outside like this.’

The reason I sought these two out again was simple.

To find even the smallest clue about the new main quest.

I came to see if there might be any suspicious movements outside the Academy, but it seems there aren’t any.

“I guess an attack from outside would be difficult?”

“D-don’t tell me?”

“Huh?”

“The Black Shadow Corps is preparing to attack the Academy… gah!”

Toby covered his mouth and lowered his head as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

I can only sigh.

“Sigh. Think whatever you want. Here, take these.”

Thud-

I tossed a communication orb to each of the two sitting before me.

They picked up the orbs that landed in front of them and looked at me with puzzled expressions.

“If you notice anything suspicious, contact me through that. A woman with a nice voice will probably answer instead of me.”

“By suspicious, you mean…?”

The two asked simultaneously.

“I told you. An attack on the Academy.”

“Ah, understood!”

I stood up, leaving behind the two who gripped the communication orbs tightly as they responded.

Woong-

And I returned directly to the office.

I didn’t expect there to be anything, but it’s still disappointing that there was absolutely nothing.

‘I guess an attack from outside really doesn’t make sense.’

“You’re back. The result… no, I don’t even need to ask.”

Addy shook her head as she saw my expression.

As if she already knew.

Main Quest: ‘Approaching Ominous Energy.’

Since it mentioned the Academy being stained with blood, I thought there might be incidents happening simultaneously inside and outside the Academy.

If it were me, I would definitely use a diversionary tactic.

That’s why I made time to visit those guys I met before.

“I told you. Not only is an attack from outside the Academy difficult, even infiltration is nearly impossible. You and Erika are special cases.”

“Still, you never know. If the vice principal is involved, he could disable the barrier.”

“I told you about that too. The principal personally manages such important matters.”

Addy sighed as if she found me frustrating.

‘Tsk.’

“Anyway, it’s good to check thoroughly before crossing a bridge. It seems you also handed over the communication orbs.”

“Yeah. If they notice anything suspicious, they’ll contact you right away. Please keep an eye on it.”

“Understood.”

I sat down in my chair, watching Addy nod slightly.

Even so, it’s strange that things are this quiet when the quest mentions ‘staining the festival with blood.’

‘Are they also a small elite group?’

Since checking the quest content, I’ve had a rough idea of who might cause trouble during the festival.

Probably those who are connected to the vice principal and summoned the undead during the competition.

“No word from Yuria?”

“No. The interrogation seems to be taking longer than expected.”

“That guy must be quite something.”

The man who gave candy to Cynthia turned out to have an extremely tight lip.

Yuria could usually extract information using magic, but it didn’t work this time.

Apparently, there was a powerful barrier-like spell placed on the hostage’s mind, and if they tried to forcibly remove it, the hostage would die.

Because of this, they had to resort to primitive and one-dimensional methods to extract information.

Getting information directly from the hostage’s mouth.

That’s why it was taking so long.

“Things aren’t going smoothly.”

“I know. It’s almost time for festival preparations.”

“Hmm.”

As Addy mentioned, the Academy was starting to buzz with excitement for the upcoming festival.

The Crescen Academy Festival held every May.

Starting with Yuria’s “Meeting with Graduates” event, there would be parties among students, event booths, and official Academy events.

The festival was larger in scale than I had imagined.

Apparently, the inter-grade competition was also held as a sort of eve event for the festival.

“It would be easier if we could just confront the vice principal and catch him.”

“…If we did that, the Black Shadow Corps might never be able to operate in Crescen again.”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be good for them if we caught the bad guys?”

“Do you really think it would work that way? We don’t have any evidence. We’d be the ones labeled as villains.”

“I see.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Addy cut me off firmly, leaving no room for argument.

She seemed to be right.

We couldn’t even get a confession from a subordinate, let alone the vice principal.

If we fought the vice principal inside the Academy wearing Black Shadow Corps uniforms without justification, we would naturally be cast as the villains.

“So we just sit around and wait for something to happen?”

“We’re not just sitting around. You’re running around everywhere, even if it’s in vain, and Yuria is trying to extract information…”

Knock knock-

Just as I was about to ask Addy when I had ever acted in vain, there was a knock at the door.

Click-

“Oh, the captain is here too.”

“Yuria?”

The one who opened the door and entered was Yuria.

I used to see her maybe once a quarter, but lately, I’ve been meeting her quite frequently.

“Any progress?”

“Hehe. A little.”

When Addy asked, Yuria closed the door with a slight smile.

“Oh! What did he say? Did he confess everything? Can we go after the vice principal now?”

“Not quite that much. I found out the date.”

“Date?”

“Yes, the day they plan to execute their plan.”

Yuria sat down on the sofa in the middle of the office with a serious expression.

“When is it?”

“The second day of the festival.”

“The second day?”

“Yes. It’s officially the day of the student party, when everyone is most likely to let their guard down.”

“So that’s when they’re planning to make their move?”

“Yes. That much is almost certain. But I don’t know how they plan to do it. And I don’t know exactly what they’re trying to do.”

Yuria continued, rubbing her forehead.

“I understand that their goal is related to the nameless demon, but I don’t see how attacking the Academy connects to that.”

“Hmm.”

A brief silence fell over the office.

Everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts.

“Yuria, have you finished analyzing the composition of the drug?”

“Ah, right. Yes. As expected, it’s a drug that temporarily draws out the body’s potential. Fortunately, it’s not addictive, but if overused, the body won’t be able to handle it and will go berserk.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

As soon as Yuria finished speaking, I remembered Cain Hover burning like fire.

As I thought, the potion that Cain Hover drank and the candy that Cynthia ate were of the same type.

The man I caught must have provided the drug to Cain as well.

“Things aren’t resolving easily. As the captain said, I’d like to prevent trouble before it happens.”

“Exactly. The festival should go on without any incidents.”

“Hmm. After thinking about it…”

“Yes?”

Yuria continued in a still serious voice.

“We need to be inside. So we can respond immediately if anything happens.”

“Inside? You mean inside the Academy?”

“Yes. They’ll definitely start the incident from inside. External infiltration is too risky.”

‘Hmm.’

I felt a twinge of embarrassment as Yuria spoke with such certainty.

I had just returned from checking if there were any suspicious movements outside the Academy.

“Just look at the undead incident. The vice principal too—they’ve already deeply infiltrated the inside.”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“So we also need to prepare from the inside. Without the vice principal knowing.”

“How…?”

“Well, you’re already perfectly infiltrated as a student, right?”

A smile spread across Yuria’s face.

Come to think of it, that’s true.

They have no way of knowing that I’m the captain of the Black Shadow Corps.

“If we add two more commanders inside, we should be able to handle most situations that might arise.”

“Two commanders?”

“Yes. Two commanders. I think we might be able to arrange something with Professor Amillion.”

“Yuria, by two commanders, you mean…?”

“Hehe. We have a commander who’s been idle lately, don’t we?”

“Ah.”

“I see.”

Addy and I probably thought of the same person.

The image of Erika shaking her head in confusion, her silver hair swaying.

“So Erika and I will also wait inside the Academy with the captain on the second day of the festival?”

“That… actually sounds good.”

“It’s the best judgment I can make based on the information we currently have.”

“I think it’s a good idea too. It would definitely be reassuring to have the captain, Erika, and Commander Yuria together.”

“And since we have more information than the enemy, we have the advantage.”

Confidence was evident in Yuria’s voice.

“At the very least, we can ensure the students’ safety.”

“Okay.”

Although Erika’s opinion wasn’t considered at all, that’s what we decided.

It wasn’t a bad approach.

It would be great if we could prevent trouble before it happens at the festival, but even if we can’t, we should at least be able to contain the situation.

“Still, let’s do whatever else we can. It’s best if nothing happens at all.”

“Hehe, of course.”

“I’ll also look into the vice principal more from inside the Academy.”

I said this almost to myself as I looked at Yuria’s smiling face.

Now I need to dig deeper inside rather than outside.